Author: Scott Pruden
Greg and Gordon DelGiorno, the local film auteurs behind Film Brothers Productions, would like to remind the rest of us that there is nothing glamorous about a movie set—particularly one for an independent film like their most recent production, Jack of Clubs.
It’s the middle of July, and filming for the feature-length comedy is in its fourth week, hopping from location to location around Delaware with the brothers’ first full professional crew and a team of kid actors picked from the duo’s first professional casting process.
On this steamy day, cast and crew are camped in the cafeteria at A.I. DuPont Middle School on Rt. 52. Because the school is closed for the summer and undergoing renovations, there’s no air conditioning. The high-intensity movie lights only make things worse.
Child cast members, ranging in age from 4 to 11, sit around lunch tables coloring, playing hand-held video games and munching on granola prepared by “kid wrangler” Cindy Murphy, a Pennsylvania school teacher who is using her vacation to help with the production.
On set, co-director Greg DelGiorno, the shorter and burlier of the Film Brothers, oversees the umpteenth take of a scene between James, the rich bully among the film’s kids, and aspiring artist Bobby, who is overweight, introverted, and the frequent target of James’ abuse.
The other child characters include Julie, who, at 9, is already obsessed with the plans for her wedding; Thelma, a no-nonsense African-American girl; and Charlie, an Asian kid who has memorized (and constantly quotes) the samurai Bushido code.
They are all brought together after the film’s main character, Jack Simon, gets drunk and crashes his car after discovering his girlfriend’s infidelity. As part of his DUI sentence, he agrees to volunteer with the kids at the Boys & Girls Club.
In this scene, James harasses Bobby by bouncing a ping-pong ball right by his head as Bobby attempts to draw. The problem is Matthew McCalla, the kid actor playing James, keeps dropping the ball, forcing retakes.
“Do me a favor. Somebody smash that ping-pong ball,” Greg says flatly. It’s a joke, but it’s clear everyone is ready for the approaching lunch break. But unlike a big-budget (or even a small-budget) studio feature, there is no “craft services” table with an array of catered goodies. There is only brother Gordon, on his way back from picking up a huge take-out order for cast and crew.
But just because Jack of Clubs is being produced on a shoestring, don’t think “low quality.” Both brothers are maintaining laser-like focus on getting the most out of the professionals involved in the production. The brothers pride themselves on not having sacrificed quality even in their earlier productions, but say that now that they have kicked things up a notch, they certainly want to get their money’s worth.
“I think with better actors, which we obviously have compared to before, it kind of makes it a little bit easier on us,” says Greg. “We can focus on script and not so much on directing and showing these people exactly what they’re supposed to do.”
“We want to make sure that if we’re going to shell out all this, we better make sure we sort of challenge the crew and they challenge themselves to get the shots we want,” Gordon says. “The pressure is on: ‘What shots do we come up with to bring production value?’”
So far, the only big hitch in the production schedule has been the rain-out of the shoot for an outdoor barbecue scene. Otherwise, the brothers say, things have run like clockwork. They’re especially pleased with the results from their day of “guerilla” filming in Rehoboth Beach, which involved choreographing seven actors—five kids and two adults—in a scene on the boardwalk of the bustling beach town. Speed and planning were of the essence because they were operating without permits, and repeated takes would draw the attention of local officials.
With the clock ticking and normal activity on the boardwalk revolving around them, cameras rolled. On the first take, everyone nailed it. To both brothers, it was a perfect example of what’s possible with a well-organized team and the motivation to get it right the first time.
“You get a rush if you pull it off,” Greg says. “If they didn’t hit what they hit, it just would have been a matter of time that we would have had to deal with some officials of some sort. But that didn’t happen.”
13th Grade